You would have to eat tons of it for there to be even the slightest chance of it having any effect at all, and I somehow doubt it would do anything then, judging by the lack of success of overdue friends of mine who tried papaya, curry etc etc to bring on labour.

I hadn't heard of that particular thing being on the don't-eat-in-pregnancy list (I was living in Japan and they have completely different ideas about what foods are safe/unsafe to eat in pregnancy) and I am fond of papaya, so I am sure I ate a whole papaya several times in both pregnancies. You really don't need to worry about one portion of salad.

Hi exepat Thank you for your message, logic is telling me that but I buggering read a shed load of stuff on Google and the constant noting of the enzymes etc., that cause contractions are hanging around like a bad smell but I will try not to think about it too much. Thanks again

One basic rule of pregnancy: stay away from Google. In fact, it's a pretty sound rule most of the time when it comes to anything medical. After 5 minutes on WebMD etc I think most of us could diagnose ourselves with terminal cancer of one sort or another.

Just think of it this way: if unripe papaya was so effective at triggering miscarriage,there would be a huge black market for it in Ireland and other places where abortion is banned, but I've never heard of anyone being charged with supplying exotic fruit with intent to procure an abortion...

It is traditionally suggested that unripe or semi-ripe papaya contains substances which could cause uterine contractions. Although this has not been proved to be true in the scientific literature, pregnant women may wish to avoid unripe and semi-ripe papaya during pregnancy.

Hi meditrina Thank you for your message. I did pass a softer stool (sorry TMI) later that evening and nothing since. I don't think that I have experienced anymore cramping than usual since I found out I was pregnant (I have had little twinges here and there but thought that was natural due to growth of uterus).